question on cost of living comparison/calculators

[Special K]

I have 2 job offers (first job out of grad school, if it matters) - one is in Dallas, and the other is in Austin. Both base salaries are about at the 77th percentile based on the data on salary.com. The distribution of salaries for the Dallas position is skewed by about $2k relative to the same position in Austin, which seems to suggest that Dallas is the more expensive place to live.

However, when I plugged some numbers into a few cost of living calculators, the average price for homes in Dallas is actually coming out to be a few $k less than homes in Austin. Is Dallas really a cheaper place to live than Austin? Are there some other taxes/expenses in Dallas that are higher than Austin (other than housing) that justify the overall higher salaries there?

Can any Texas AT'ers comment on the relative cost of living difference between Austin and Dallas (if any)? Also any general comments about the two cities would be welcome.

Also, what is best calculator to use when comparing cost of living between 2 cities? The one on homefair.com has been down for quite awhile now. I was using the one on CNN money, but only because it was the first thing to come up in a google search.

 

[Special K]

bump... any AT'ers in Dallas or Austin?

 

[Babbles]

Austin is more expensive. Of course it does depend exactly on what part of the area you live in, but I think it is safe to say that for the most part Austin is a bit more pricey than DFW. I used to live in Arlington (near Ft Worth) for the vast majority of my life and I would highly, highly, highly recommend to not actually live in the city limits of Dallas, but some other suburb around Dallas (e.g. Irving, Grapevine, South Lake, Richardson, etcetera.)

DFW has everything you could ever possibly want and I couldn't recommend it enough for people; great food, good sports venues, museums, zoos, schools, travel, and so forth.

Austin, though, is a fun place to visit, but can't comment on living there. I now live in Pennsylvania and I plan on taking a trip down to Austin for South By Southwest and just to hang out with the girlfriend. That being said, Austin is ~4 hours from DFW so it is an easy weekend trip and living in a cheaper area (i.e. DFW) is probably the smarter thing.

What part of Dallas is your job offer?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Babbles
Austin is more expensive. Of course it does depend exactly on what part of the area you live in, but I think it is safe to say that for the most part Austin is a bit more pricey than DFW. I used to live in Arlington (near Ft Worth) for the vast majority of my life and I would highly, highly, highly recommend to not actually live in the city limits of Dallas, but some other suburb around Dallas (e.g. Irving, Grapevine, South Lake, Richardson, etcetera.)

DFW has everything you could ever possibly want and I couldn't recommend it enough for people; great food, good sports venues, museums, zoos, schools, travel, and so forth.

Austin, though, is a fun place to visit, but can't comment on living there. I now live in Pennsylvania and I plan on taking a trip down to Austin for South By Southwest and just to hang out with the girlfriend. That being said, Austin is ~4 hours from DFW so it is an easy weekend trip and living in a cheaper area (i.e. DFW) is probably the smarter thing.

What part of Dallas is your job offer?

Richardson.

Everyone I've talked to said Austin is a great city for someone my age (early 20's), but the cost of living difference surprised me. If Dallas is cheaper overall than Austin, why are the salaries still a bit higher on average?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

austin is more expensive becuase it is MUCH NICER PLACER TO LIVE

and worth it, imo

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
austin is more expensive becuase it is MUCH NICER PLACER TO LIVE

and worth it, imo

Could you elaborate a bit, please?

 

[MrPickins]

Housing in Austin is fairly expensive because the population has been expanding rapidly for at least 10 years, but everything else should be similar in cost to DFW.

I'm biased because I've lived here so long, but I prefer Austin to Dallas. Part of it has to do with the beautiful "hill country" north and west of here.

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
austin is more expensive becuase it is MUCH NICER PLACER TO LIVE

and worth it, imo

Could you elaborate a bit, please?

In cities with populations over 500,000, Austin is the fifth safest city. In cities with populations with populations over 500,000, Dallas sixth most dangerous.

Does that answer your question?

 

[Babbles]

Richardson is a very nice area along with the rest of North Dallas. In fact I think North Dallas is by far a nicer place than Austin; however Austin is - without a doubt - more fun. However the North Dallas area is probably the more expensive area to live within DFW. Again, though, you can always easily visit Austin without paying the money to live there.

Much more resources in DFW than in Austin as well.

I imagine that salaries are higher in DFW because of competition. A lot of people want to live in Austin so you got that supply and demand thing going on; lots of people are willing to work for less in Austin than in DFW.

 

[ElFenix]

austin is a more expensive place to live than dallas.

austin pays lower salaries because people really want to move there.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
austin is more expensive becuase it is MUCH NICER PLACER TO LIVE

and worth it, imo

Could you elaborate a bit, please?

In cities with populations over 500,000, Austin is the fifth safest city. In cities with populations with populations over 500,000, Dallas sixth most dangerous.

Does that answer your question?

Dallas is a cess pool with a crime problem (with the exception of Dallas north of 635), which is why earlier I recommend that he never actually live in Dallas.

Also as somebody else mentioned, the area around Austin (Hill Country) is very pretty country and the Austin area is just generally nicer in regards to the environment thing. Austin is also a very eco-friendly city, but the smog in DFW, at times, does give some nice sunsets.

If you have any asthma problems, or any respiratory problems, don't move to DFW. Like probably any large metropolitan areas there is a nice amount of pollution which may exacerbate any health issues.

 

[mlm]

Originally posted by: Babbles
If you have any asthma problems, or any respiratory problems, don't move to DFW. Like probably any large metropolitan areas there is a nice amount of pollution which may exacerbate any health issues.

On the other hand, if you have bad allergies, Austin will make you pretty miserable. I never had so many issues until I came here

I think the thing that makes Dallas cheaper than Austin is all the suburbs. The ones around Dallas are pretty self-sustaining (grew up in Garland and rarely went to Dallas) whereas the ones around Austin are just extentions of the city.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: mlm
On the other hand, if you have bad allergies, Austin will make you pretty miserable. I never had so many issues until I came here

the amount of pollen in austin is simply ridiculous.

 

[longhornlump]

I vote for Austin. Lived there for 4 years while attending Texas wish I could go back. But Austin does suck for allergies, since moving back to Houston I have sneezed a whole lot less.

 

[tfinch2]

Austin FTW.

 

[hellokeith]

Please go to Austin. We don't need any more out-of-stater's in the DFW area.